350-foot rule amendment irks many

Surfers, others believe wording was attempt to gut the setback limit

George Tuley/Caller-Times file photo
Neil McQueen, chairman of the Coastal Bend Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, said the surfers' calls are a good example of how residents can affect the legislative process.

CORPUS CHRISTI - That furious clicking noise heard throughout the Coastal Bend this week is the sound of surfers dialing phones and contacting state legislators.

And it has worked.

The issue that motivated them was a single line amendment to a bill dealing with coastal erosion. After it was brought to the attention of local legislators, lawmakers instituted a parliamentary procedure that likely will strip the amendment from the bill.

"I think it is a good example of how citizens can positively affect the legislative process," said Neil McQueen, chairman of the Coastal Bend Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.

The amendment stated, "A county may establish and implement a building set-back line under this section only outside the corporate limits of a municipality." But it is couched in a larger section dealing with public education for shoreline erosion planning.

Surfers, and some environmentalists, believe the amendment was a back-door attempt to gut Nueces County's recently approved 350-foot setback limit on beach construction, enforced through dune protection permits issued by the county. The Corpus Christi city government opposed the 350-foot rule unsuccessfully, saying it would place a needless restraint to valuable development.

City officials, and the Texas General Land Office, say the surfers are wrong about what's going on in the Legislature.

"Evidently, there are a number of folks that think this has to do with dune protection," said Tom Utter, who as special assistant to the Corpus Christi city manager represents the city's interests before the Legislature. "For policy wonks and technocrats like me, who live and die by where a comma is, we know it's not that."

Under Texas law, counties have the authority to issue dune protection permits, which builders need before they can build near a beach. Most counties have delegated that authority to nearby cities, which regulate building permits, to avoid a duplicative process. Nueces County has declined to give that authority to Corpus Christi -- though Kleberg County has delegated that power to Corpus Christi on Kleberg County beaches within Corpus Christi's city limits.

Corpus Christi has made it a legislative priority to wrest that control from Nueces County. Corpus Christi is the only area that would be affected by the language in the bill.

"All claims to the contrary, this floor amendment that came in was done without the knowledge of Corpus Christi legislators and does indeed affect the 350-foot rule," said Fred McCutchon, a lawyer and chairman of the Nueces County Beach Management Advisory Committee.

The amendment was submitted by Sen. Mike Jackson, who represents parts of Galveston, Harris and Brazoria counties. Attempts to reach him Thursday for comment were unsuccessful.

Because the amendment was not debated, exactly what it will do is subject to interpretation. One local legislator believes the language at least could lead to a court fight.

"Given that the local stakeholders didn't get a chance to have input on the amendment," said state Rep. Juan Garcia, D-Corpus Christi, "I anticipate removing the amendment so that it can be fully analyzed."